riding

Oh boy is it hot. Everyone's talking about it. Not only is it hot, but it's very smoky, since half of the west is currently on fire and it seems to settle into the valley here around this time of the year. All three of the horses have eye infections from a combination of smoke and flies. Nothing serious, just drippy eyes and a little mucus forming in the corners. I'll head over to the vet's tomorrow and pick up a tube of the Gentak that we use in their eyes this time of year. I got out to ride this morning by 8:00 am, which was almost too late.

Scot and I are in the midst of our bi-annual ritual: Twice a year, during the fourth of july and on New Year's Eve, we spend the evening in the barn feeding the horses hay. That's because, where we live, not only do people have all kinds of fireworks (mostly illegal), but they also really love shooting off their guns. And somehow they think the law of gravity doesn't apply to them. What goes up, stays up.

Still, still, still finishing the book. Getting much closer. It's a good thing it's hot as hell right now or I'd be lamenting being too busy to ride. Even with a few days off, I've got my sights set on the next goal: Going to Colorado Horse Park for the summer show in August. It's a big one, with lots of competitors in a beautiful setting. Today I sent my entry in, and then promptly went online to see who else would potentially be showing in my classes.

Belle's getting the day off from trailer training today, as I have much to do to prepare for this weekend's double header at Sunland Park Race Track (nope, not racing, going to a dressage show) near El Paso, sponsored by the Paso del Norte Dressage Society.

Yet suddenly, out of the blue, B doesn't want to pick up the left lead canter. When he is cantering left (after much shouldering-in and whip tapping) he feels dead and almost like he's going to just plunk out. I know I am locking my left hip and working too hard at asking for both the transition and the ten meter canter circles, overdoing everything. I'm probably so tense about it he's just like, well, forget it.

I had one of those "I'm going to cry" moments today during my lesson. I haven't cried (out of frustration) during a riding lesson in years, so this kind of surprised me. Nicole's always great about telling me in detail about my progress, so it had nothing to do with her. It was just plain old, "why am I still struggling with this"--this being true throughness of the horse over his back, and my own shortcomings, which include but are not limited to: busy hands, a droopy left shoulder, and a general lack of coordination.

Dang dressage is hard.

"I only want to make it easier for you, so you can feel it," she said, when she suggested she get on.

Last year about this time I went to see a saddle fitting expert. I was embarrassed I'd never had my kneidersuss reflocked or adjusted or anything in the 15 years I'd owned it. It was hard as a rock.

It was obviously a relic. Our saddle fitter, Anne Forrest from Equestrian Imports, recommended something completely new. Over the course of an afternoon I tried maybe five different saddles--and finally settled on the new, and frighteningly priced Amerigo. But here's the thing: The minute I sat in it, I was more balanced and my horse more forward than he'd ever been.

Today I went back to see Anne on her annual visit--There has been much improvement over the year with both my riding and Baleno's way of going. But still there was a bit of trepidation: What if she found the saddle unacceptable and I ended up having to buy yet another new one? Alas--worry for nothing. Anne just reflocked the panels to make them more even (not surprisingly the right side was more compressed than the left, owing to my own riding imperfections, of which there are many). Otherwise, the new (year old) saddle still fits great.

Happy to be home--everyone has four legs, and the barn is tidy.
Went out to ride today for the first time in 13 days, and found that other than general stiffness, Baleno felt pretty good. He immediately developed a nice foam mustache (doesn't happen often with Mr. Teeth Clencher) and really wanted to be round. So I was thinking about it how nice it is to ride after a long break (because face it, even though we love horses, it's nice to take a break now and then), and came across these post-vacation thoughts on riding:

1) After a vacation, both you and the horse are more relaxed. For nearly two weeks, I spent minimal time sitting in front of a computer--at most an hour every other day to check email, vs. at home where it's more like 9 or 10 hours crunched up, staring at a screen. Hence no "computer neck" or back stiffness.

In the UK a couple of weeks ago, I met a woman named Seona who had invented a new kind of chap--I generally am a traditionalist, preferring breeches and boots to chaps--I gave away my old 16-year-old pair a few years ago to my friend Amy. Seona's chaps caught my eye at the British Equestrian Trade Association fashion show because they were really the first innovative thing I'd seen in the UK.

So, you take a pair of stretchy jeans, cut out the seat, sew clarino inside the legs and attach zippers up the outside seam on each leg Belt them up and your on your way. Of course it's not that simple and it takes a good amount of business and design savvy to manufacture an entirely new kind of chap. You can wear breeches and boots under them, or breeches and paddocks, or even a long pair of shorts (which is handy here in the desert Southwest.